Scottish Executive

Care of Elderly People

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to the possible financial implications of the implementation of free personal care in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the provision of free personal care for the older people of Scotland.

Compulsory Purchase Orders

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15634 by Sarah Boyack on 18 June 2001, whether a person whose property is made the subject of a compulsory purchase order is routinely informed of any representations made by third parties in connection with the order or, if not, whether there are any circumstances in which such persons may be made aware of any third party representations and under what circumstances the public become aware of third party representations made in connection with a compulsory purchase order.

Lewis Macdonald: A person whose property is the subject of a compulsory purchase order (an owner, lessee or occupier) is not routinely informed of any representations made by third parties. If, however, (the owner, lessee or occupier) objects to the order and maintains the objection, the matter will be dealt with at a public local inquiry, and all parties will then be made aware of any third party representations. Similarly other members of the public will become aware of third party representations if they attend the public local inquiry, the date of which will be publicised in one or more local newspapers.

Drug Misuse

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many rehabilitation beds are available in each health board area for registered drug users, expressed on a per capita basis and as a ratio to the number of registered drug users in each area.

Susan Deacon: Information in the form requested is not held centrally. The term "registered drug" user no longer exists and I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-16963 on 8 August.

  Rehabilitation for those addicted to drugs is provided through a variety of services and in a variety of settings, many of which are community-based and do not involve residential care. Beds provided within the NHS and the voluntary sector for rehabilitation will also be available for anyone with a clinical need, including people from outwith the health board in which the beds are situated.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to ensure that the export and home markets for venison do not suffer as a result of the restrictions imposed since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Ross Finnie: The Executive recognises fully the impact which foot-and-mouth disease could have on this year’s venison market both at home and abroad. The case for a recommencement of meat exports from Scotland will be pressed vigorously in Brussels.

Historic Scotland

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors Historic Scotland properties located in the north east of Scotland parliamentary region have received so far this year and how this figure compares with the equivalent period in each of the last three years.

Allan Wilson: I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to answer. His response is as follows.

  Listed in the table are the visitor numbers for Historic Scotland staffed sites in the north east of Scotland parliamentary region for the period 1 January to 31 August and for the comparable period over the last three years.

  


Year 
  

1998 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  



Arbroath Abbey 
  

6,325 
  

6,623 
  

5,303 
  

11,461 
  



Balvenie Castle 
  

4,679 
  

6,077 
  

5,384 
  

4,615 
  



Claypotts Castle 
  

Closed 
  

375 
  

418 
  

Closed 
  



Corgarff Castle 
  

4,901 
  

5,025 
  

4,290 
  

3,065 
  



Edzell Castle 
  

9,228 
  

8,093 
  

7,462 
  

6,343 
  



Huntly Castle 
  

11,772 
  

11,214 
  

12,735 
  

10,901 
  



Kildrummy Castle 
  

6,701 
  

7,950 
  

8,028 
  

6,646 
  



Meigle Stones 
  

4,835 
  

4,441 
  

3,499 
  

3,764 
  



Tolquhon Castle 
  

4,179 
  

3,741 
  

3,317 
  

2,492 
  



Totals 
  

52,620 
  

53,539 
  

50,436 
  

49,287

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many misconduct reports were logged at HM Prison Kilmarnock in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-17666 on 6 September 2001.